Wires and cables are very important for diversified electrical appliances to input or output electrical power and data signals. Therefore, it is necessary for wires and cables to have high electrical conductivity, low current loss and high anti-interference.
In order to enhance the electrical conductivity of wires and cables, materials with high electrical conductivity such as pure copper and pure silver are used as a conductive core. However, not only are pure copper and pure silver fairly soft materials, but also it is very difficult to refine them, thus their use leads to a considerable increase in cost. Therefore, it has been believed for a long time that copper-based alloys such as brass are better for use as conductive core material for wires and cables, brass being an alloy of copper and zinc.
Brass, however, does have some draw-backs when used in wires and cables. Firstly, the electrical conductivity of a brass core is relatively low compared to other conducting metals, as a result wires and cables made from brass exhibit relatively high levels of eddy current loss. Eddy current is caused by self inductance in the conductor core when carrying current. Moreover, eddy current loss can increase with increasing diameter of wires and cables. Wires and cables with brass cores suffer from relatively high levels of interference, which can affect transmission of high frequency signals.
What is needed, therefore, is a wire with copper-silver alloy core having high electrical conductivity, low current loss and high anti-interference. What is also needed, therefore, is a method for manufacturing the wire.